Background Although adult vertebrates sense changes in head position by using two
classes of accelerometer, at larval stages zebrafish lack functional semicircular canals and
rely exclusively on their otolithic organs to transduce vestibular information. Results Despite
this limitation, we find that larval zebrafish perform an effective vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR)
that serves to stabilize gaze in response to pitch and roll tilts. By using single-cell
electroporations and targeted laser ablations, we identified a specific class of central …

Whilst adult vertebrates sense changes in head position using two classes of accelerometer,
at larval stages zebrafish lack functional semicircular canals and rely exclusively on their
otolithic organs to transduce vestibular information. Despite this limitation, they perform an
effective vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) that serves to stabilize gaze in response to pitch and
roll tilts. Using single-cell electroporations and targeted laser-ablations, we identified a
specific class of central vestibular neurons, located in the tangential nucleus, which are …